The Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize

The Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize (the Prize) is a new annual award established by the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre (T.I.C.) to recognise excellence in published tantalum research*. The Prize will increase awareness of the many unique properties of tantalum products and the applications in which they excel.

The Prize has been named after the discoverer of tantalum and will be awarded to the lead author(s) of the published paper or patent that is judged by an independent panel of experts to have made the greatest contribution to understanding the processing, properties or applications of tantalum. The prize is sponsored by the T.I.C. and is central to its efforts to publicise the many exceptional benefits afforded by this element.

The long-term future of the tantalum market will depend on technology-driven innovations and winners of the Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize will be acknowledged as true leaders in this field. The lead author(s) will be invited to give a presentation on their work at a General Assembly, where they will also receive a medal made of tantalum and a certificate of award presented by the T.I.C. President. They will also be interviewed in our quarterly newsletter, the Bulletin.

How will the Prize be granted?

The Prize is open to any published paper or patent that is judged to advance knowledge and understanding of tantalum. To be eligible for consideration the publication must be in English and be made between 24 and 6 months before the award ceremony at a T.I.C. General Assembly. Therefore, to be eligible for the October 2018 Prize a publication must be dated between October 2016 and April 2018.

Should you wish to submit or recommend a publication for consideration for the 2018 Award, then please contact the T.I.C. by May 1st 2018.

Suitable subjects may include, but are not limited to:

Tantalum used in capacitors or other electronic applications

Tantalum metallurgy and mill products, including alloys

The use of tantalum powder in additive manufacturing (3D printing)

Innovative new applications for tantalum

Processing of tantalum minerals, synthetic concentrates or other raw materials

Recycling of tantalum-bearing scrap

The T.I.C. staff and Executive Committee, acting as secretariat to the Prize, will create a shortlist of approximately a dozen eligible publications for consideration by the independent panel of experts (the ‘Panel’) that will vote on the winner.

The judging Panel of experts

The Panel is a group of between five and seven international experts selected from around the world to provide an impartial assessment on the technical merit of the shortlisted papers. Each will be asked to serve for up to three years to give continuity and stability to the decision-making process. Members of the current T.I.C. Executive Committee and staff cannot sit on the Panel.

Work has already started to identify experts and invite them to join the Panel. Details of this esteemed group will published in April 2018. If you wish to be considered or would like to recommend someone as a panellist please contact info@tanb.org.

Schedule for the first Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize

The initial Prize is planned to be awarded at the 59th General Assembly in October 2018. Full details of the Prize will be added to a dedicated section of our website in due course.

The Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize follows in a long tradition of awards for excellence in metals, chemicals and related scientific disciplines, including:

The Albert Einstein World Award of Science (science)

The Nobel Prizes (including physics and chemistry)

The Bessemer Gold Medal (steel)

The Charles Hatchett Award Prize (niobium)

The Gadolin Medal of the Society of Finnish Chemists (chemistry)

The Davy Medal of the (UK) Royal Society (chemistry)

* Although the T.I.C. represents and supports both tantalum and niobium equally, the Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize will focus only on tantalum, but this is only because CBMM’s Charles Hatchett Award (www.charles-hatchett.com) already does an excellent job of recognising niobium published research.